Green Stones, You Make My Heart Sing

Most of these photos we taken a few weeks ago.  Their quality is not the best, they are simple snapshots I took while working on this series of pendants...Mostly I wanted to catalog this moment for posterity, to have a record of all these stones in one place before they went off in to the world.  These images will be a repeat for most of you, they've made the Sierra Keylin Jewelry social media rounds, but I just wanted them to have a more "permanent" home here on the blog.  

Each one has a unique color and shape.  The patterns in the stone have moss like patterns and the colors are in almost every shade of delicious green goodness.  Some of them are light green and translucent, while others are bright, vibrant and almost opaque...These stones captured my heart, I absolutely love them all!  

Bits an pieces of November...A bit late

Hmmm, I just found this post that I never published before I left for Seattle...I figured why not share it now, even if its a few weeks old.  It seems that blogging has taken a backseat to Instagram in the past few months, and now that I realize how long it's been since I've been using this space I see how much I miss it.  No promises of the regularity of future blog posts, no excuses as to why I haven't been here, just some honest realization that I need to put some effort in to keeping this space alive.  Until next time friends....

Snapshots

Here are a few random images from the past week.  I'm working my booty off in the studio, soaking up this precious time I have to create. I can feel myself finally settling in to the groove of this new life as a full time maker.  Some days flow like water from the faucet, and others are like pumping water from a well...I am grateful for whatever comes.

Happy Thursday!

A Few New Pieces

 A handful of new work...A few necklaces, two of them are additions to the Nomad series I've been working with the past few months.  Inspired mostly by the materials themselves, and using old African trade beads I've had in my collection for years.  I wanted to add some pops of color to the Nomad series...These pieces are just the right contrast between dark and light, rustic and refined, old and new.

Each of these pieces were born from a feeling.  That feeling you have when you put on a piece that just feels right, that "goes" with any outfit, that is great for any adventure...I have a few pieces in my personal collection that I seem to love more with time, and that I know I will always love to wear even twenty years from now.  I hope someone out there will get those feelings when they slip one of these on their neck, that they will make these pieces their new favorites, and that over time they'll come to love them even more than I do.


Also, a few more shapes in the Nomad earring series...More on those later this week.

Two days

Friday...

Saturday...

Sunday will probably be more of the same...

Bring it on.

Some things are a struggle to bring from the depths of my mind to a real live piece of jewelry.  These two seemed to leap from my head, through my hands, and into tangible pieces.  The flow was flowing, the "bench goddess" was on my side, and these were born.  

These necklaces have inspired me, something about their shapes seems a bit different to me from what I've made in the recent past.  This weekend I've got plans to forge my heart out, to work until my fingers are raw from filing, sanding and shaping.  Every day at the bench has its own energy, some slow and meditative and some where I literally don't look up from my work for hours at a time.  This weekend I've got daydreams to pound out in metal, and a pile of gorgeous bits of colorful earth to be framed in silver.  

I'm off to have a date with my laptop and do some shopping for materials...I always get excited when I know there's a package on the way, especially when it's filled with silver.

Wailua

A Sunday well spent, with friends and dogs and turtles and a picnic. Coming out here to the country today made me feel like I'm finally back home. As we drove through the pineapple fields this afternoon, and rounded a bend in the road to reveal the ocean below, I had a moment.  I don't know what else to call it...I was hyper aware of the smell, the colors, the breeze on my face.  All of it felt amazing, the way you might appreciate something for the first time.  I needed this moment, and it came just in time. 

~S

Please bare with me as I work on tweaking the blog a little bit in the next few weeks.  Just some small cosmetic changes...Thanks!

It's all about the rocks...

I had a few custom orders waiting for me when I got back from vacation.  I love the process of working with someone one on one to design the perfect piece for them.  I continue to be inspired by the lovely ladies who want to work with me.  I consider it such an honor to make these pieces, especially when the customer gets so excited picking out just the right stone.  I'm not sure why, but it feels like such a different process while I'm working on the piece when I know who it will end up with...  Usually I dream something up in my head, and get to work on it wondering the whole time if and/or who will claim it.  I spend quite a bit of time daydreaming about who she might be and where she's going while she's wearing it. 

These two are headed off to their new homes...

I've continued to design around the theme of the Nomad pieces I've been doing for a while now.  Something about the rough textured silver and simple shapes make my eyes happy...I've got a bench full of new pieces started, and I can't wait to show them to you!

For the past few weeks since returning home, I'm slowly settling in to my new "no job" schedule. Mornings are usually a slow start for me...I'm trying to be "better" about that I swear!  I've been feeling scattered some days and filled with extreme focus on other days.  While I adjust to this new place I find myself in, I think the most important thing for me is to "just do it", as in, put in the hours, do the work, and while working, daydream of what I really want for this small business.  I want so many things, and the more I work, the more exposure I get, the more I know that I CAN DO IT!  So with that, I'm manifesting the change I want to see here at Sierra Keylin Jewelry.  Here's a small list of current goals to accomplish by the end of the year.

#1 (and the one that is currently giving me the hardest time because I need more computer skills)

 LINE SHEETS!  I want to be able to approach retailers and I NEED to have a proper line sheet and order form.  I have no clue, and am currently researching options. (these options include buying photoshop and also taking a class that will teach me how to use the damn thing).

#2 Apply for a show that I have been saying I am going to do "eventually", once all my business things/online presence is "ready"...Um, how about just GO FOR IT and don't be so stressed that things aren't "perfect". 

#3 Set up a trunk show to showcase my work while I'm in Seattle over the week of Thanksgiving.  

#4 Find some local metalsmiths.  I've been feeling like I need a bit more community, other creative types that have gone through/are going through some of what I've been experiencing as I grow this business.   Oahu is a small island, and yes there is a wonderful art center here where I took my first class, but I haven't been taking advantage of this resource.  I'm not really up for a whole new session of classes, but possibly renting some studio time so that I can be around other artists might do the trick. 

#5 Experimentation in the studio.  This is a big one for me...I feel like there are so many techniques that I want to try, and I'm afraid to go for it.  Why?  I have no idea.  I need to bring the spirit of "play" back to the studio, and really just GO FOR IT!  Often I think maybe I'm over thinking (what else is new), and I'm just playing safe...SO I'm ready to SEIZE THE FREAKIN' DAY and design my little heart out!

Really I just meant to share these two pieces of new work with you, but there I go again, brain dumping the contents of my head onto the screen,  As usual I feel a million times better...So, thanks!

Happy Friday!

Working

I procured some specimens while away...Now it's time to get to work!

Today's mission...Make all the bezels.

Tonight's mission...create RAD jewels.

I'm excited to back at the bench, with a clean slate and a plan of action!  Here and now begins the next chapter of this little dream of mine.  Thanks for being here, and being a part of my journey...

S